Tides Rising
by Hollow Mashiro
Summary: Kaien's consciousness isn't quite as gone as everyone seems to believe when he's killed in Soul Society. Rukia makes a different decision when using Shirafune against Aaroniero and changes everything. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When Kaien awoke, it wasn't to the normal stifling sensation of Aaroniero crushing him, or to the usual cacophony of Hollow screeches that shared Aaroniero's mindscape. In fact, it was rather quiet and a bit brighter than he was used to, plus he was breathing easily for the first time in decades. There was a hint of Hollow in the mindscape still, but it was much less… cognizant than Kaien was used to.

His chest itched, and he scratched at it.

Then he realized how impossible that was, in and of itself. Aaroniero had complete control of his body. He hadn't so much as been able to consciously twitch for years. He opened his eyes and reflexively sat up, grasping for his zanpakuto.

Kaien recognized this location; he was in Aaroniero's tower. Just because he hadn't been able to move didn't mean he hadn't been conscious or observing Aaroniero's actions, waiting for a weakness to try to take over. But what…?

Then he noticed Rukia lying face down a fair distance away in a pool of blood, unconscious and, from the looks of how much blood was around her, bleeding out. Her shihakusho, for some reason, was completely white.

"Rukia!" Kaien scrambled to his feet and dizzily swayed before hobbling over to Rukia's side. Her blade was gone. Kaien gently flipped her over and saw three stab deep wounds, matching the pattern of his shikai's form. He felt ill as he held shaking hands over the wounds and tried to engage his healing kido.

What had happened?

The last thing Kaien remembered was still being under Aaroniero's control. The Arrancar had attacked Rukia; he'd been screaming and struggling fruitlessly against Aaroniero's control. Even worse, he remembered Aaroniero taunting both him and Rukia about it – "He's right here, screaming inside me!" Then he sickeningly remembered Aaroniero stabbing Rukia with Nejibana. And then…

" _San no Mai: Shirafune._ " Pain from being stabbed through the heart, Aaroniero screaming, a feeling of flying with an influx of power…

"You little idiot," he whispered in horror.

Rukia had _transferred her powers to him._

A Shinigami's power would kill a Hollow, that much was for certain. It would also likely be enough to conquer an Arrancar. But for Rukia to have enough reiryoku to completely overwhelm and destroy Aaroniero _and_ the Hollows he'd eaten for power, leaving Kaien the sole owner of the body…

Kaien almost couldn't believe it.

But that meant that she was powerless and badly injured in an entire palace full of enemies with only a single lieutenant who couldn't even properly control his limbs or direct his reiatsu to protect her.

Instead of panicking, like he wanted to do, Kaien redoubled his efforts to activate his healing kido. Green light sputtered weakly around his hands before becoming more of a solid entity, stronger than he could ever recall it being. Well, he _had_ just received an influx of power strong enough to take out an Espada, so it shouldn't really have come as a surprise.

He was able to work on her for half an hour before he felt a familiar reiatsu signature headed his way. Zommari, the seventh Espada. With Kaien feeling as unsteady as he did, it would be unlikely that he'd be able to beat the Espada. So staying put wasn't an option, but where to go?

Kaien had known that Rukia had come with several others to save the Human girl; going to them for backup would probably be a good idea. But two were losing against Szayel Aporro Granz and wouldn't be of any help and another seemed almost dead.

The last one was holding his own against what felt like Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, plus he could feel the signature of the Human girl – Inoue? – nearby. She was a healer too, wasn't she? Grimacing and unable to think of a better place to go, Kaien gently picked up Rukia (and almost toppled over from her weight but stubbornly remained upright) and hurried off in a staggering shunpo towards the unfamiliar, Hollow-tinged reiatsu signature, hiding his reiatsu as best as he was able. He didn't worry about Rukia broadcasting their location because she currently had no energy _to_ broadcast.

Kaien griped internally about going to someone who had Hollow-like reiatsu for help but it wasn't like he had any better options. It was preferable to getting caught by Zommari, at least, who wouldn't hesitate to cut both him and Rukia down when he realized what had happened to Aaroniero.

* * *

It turned out that the unknown Shinigami (kind of) and Grimmjow were still duking it out when Kaien reached them. He saw the Inoue girl and a little tiny Arrancar watching the fight from behind a glowing yellow shield and jumped up to join them.

The unknown Shinigami started moving in his direction, possibly to defend the girl or otherwise ascertain his motives, but Grimmjow interrupted with a sharp, "Don't go running off on me, Shinigami! We're not finished here!"

"Hello," Kaien greeted gravely to the two startled girls. The tiny Arrancar placed herself defensively in front of Inoue and he held up his free hand in a placating gesture. "I'm not here to fight," he said. "You're a healer, aren't you?"

Inoue nodded warily.

"Good," Kaien said sharply, gently setting Rukia on the pillar before the girl. Her wounds had reopened during his journey to get here. Likely, he was bloodstained from carrying her. Kaien glanced down at himself and grimaced to realize that he was still wearing Aaroniero's white uniform.

Inoue hurried forward, frowning. "Rukia!" she said worriedly, two tiny spirits emerging from her hair clips and forming a dome above Rukia. "What happened?"

Kaien grimaced. "Let's just say the ninth Espada got her. Can you heal her?"

"Of course," Inoue said. She glanced down at the fight occurring below them and then looked back up at him in confusion. "…But aren't you the ninth Espada?"

Kaien froze. "How would you know? I'm not, but…"

Inoue tapped her cheek. "You have the number nine tattooed right here."

Kaien grimaced. Of course he'd be marked and changed from when he'd been merged with a bunch of Hollows. "It's complicated. I'm the Shinigami that was left behind when the ninth Espada died. I wouldn't hurt Rukia!" he protested when he caught the green-haired Arrancar eyeing him mistrustfully.

Then he took a closer look at the little girl – more specifically, her mask. There was some old damage on one side, a crack and missing teeth. He wasn't even sure how the girl was functioning with a broken mask.

"Hey," he said to Inoue, jerking his head at the little Arrancar. "When you're done with Rukia, you should heal her. Her mask's broken."

"Aren't Arrancar masks supposed to be broken?" Inoue asked.

"Well, they are, but there's a difference between an Arrancar's broken mask and a _damaged_ mask," Kaien explained. He'd learned to spot the difference during his unwilling stay in Hueco Mundo.

"Okay," Inoue said, nodding. "I'm almost done with Rukia." Kaien watched with fascination as she quickly rejected the damage to Rukia's stomach, the holes closing remarkably quickly. Kaien wasn't sure if even Unohana-taicho could heal someone so effectively.

"Nel'th hurt?" the little Arrancar asked shyly, worriedly. Kaien supposed that Nel was her name.

"Little bit, yeah," Kaien said. "Don't worry. Inoue is a good healer."

Inoue blushed at the praise before her dome faded from around Rukia. Amazingly, Rukia's shihakusho had regained its black color and Sode no Shirayuki lay next to her. Kaien could understand why Aizen had gone after this girl; she'd just rejected damage to the soul – the loss of one's powers – that could take months to recover from. Rukia was absolutely getting an earful for attempting something as risky as transferring her powers to an _Arrancar_ when she woke up.

Healing Nel's mask only took about a minute, tops. The little Arrancar ran her hands over her restored mask, crack gone and missing teeth restored, before lunging at Inoue, shouting some unintelligible but enthusiastic thanks.

It was this noise that awoke Rukia, who grunted and squinted in the sunlight before sitting up, blinking rapidly. She looked around and saw Inoue and Nel, her expression softening when she saw that her friend (who had returned to watching the fight) was alright, before she looked at Kaien, who was wearing his best you're-in-big-shit-now face.

Rukia looked like she'd been hit with a sledgehammer when she saw him in the light, Aaroniero's glass tank that exposed itself in sunlight nowhere to be seen. "It worked?" she whispered, throat sounding suspiciously clogged.

Kaien snapped, "You're damn right, it worked, by some miracle! What do you think would have happened if it hadn't, huh? You would have died!"

He wasn't able to get out anything more, though, as Rukia threw herself at him and buried her face in the dirtied remains of Aaroniero's uniform. "Kaien-dono, I gambled and won, so I can't say I'm sorry for having gambled in the first place," she mumbled.

"Then how did you even know doing something that stupid would even work?!" Kaien ranted. He wasn't quite done chewing Rukia out for _transferring her powers_ to an _Arrancar_. She could have just powered up Aaroniero by doing such a thing – the Arrancar was a Hollow/Shinigami hybrid, after all – so how did she know that her actions would destroy him instead of helping him?

Rukia looked up at him with watery eyes, completely unaffected by Kaien's admittedly well-founded ire. "There was an incident a couple months ago," she said as she let him go, pausing for a moment to take in the fight occurring below her between the unknown Shinigami and Grimmjow before continuing. "A Hollow possessed me, and Ichigo—" she jerked her head at the unknown Shinigami, "—transferred enough of his power to me to get rid of it. I figured that the same thing would happen if your soul was still in one piece inside the Arrancar, and Aaroniero alluded that it _was_ , so…" She shrugged uncomfortably.

Kaien stared. " _You didn't even know if it would work?!_ " he shrieked. "Where did you learn to be so irresponsible?! I ought to demote you right now for being so reckless!"

Rukia looked unrepentant. "It worked, didn't it? I came here to save a friend. I don't regret being able to save another."

Kaien let out a helpless snarl of rage and desperation. "I had already died decades ago, don't you understand? Why would you risk _everything_ just for the slim possibility that you could save someone like me?!"

"You risked everything trying to destroy Metastacia," she said quietly. "Why can't you understand that others would want to take those same risks to help you?"

Crap, Kaien could feel himself getting teary. "You're an idiot. An incurable moron," he said shakily before drawing her into a hug. Rukia tightly embraced him back.

The moment was ruined when the unknown Shinigami – Ichigo, apparently – appeared right in front of Inoue's shield and took several of Grimmjow's elbow darts to the back. Kaien stared confusedly at the Hollow mask on Ichigo's face and the gold-on-black eyes before he disappeared again to reengage Grimmjow.

"So what's the deal with him?" Kaien asked, staring at the unmistakable shihakusho underneath the overcoat.

"He's something called a Vizard," Rukia explained. "A Shinigami with Hollow powers. As I understand, Aizen created some a century ago, but I'm not sure where Ichigo got his Hollow. I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with Urahara though," she finished darkly.

"A hybrid like an Arrancar, huh?" Kaien said, thinking back to the Urahara exile a century ago. Looking back, it was easy to see that the former twelfth division's captain had been framed by Aizen. "So all those officers are still alive then?"

Rukia nodded, and Kaien grimaced. "I guess we owe them a huge apology."

Ichigo looked like he was losing the fight, at least until Inoue shouted some words of encouragement down to Kurosaki, as she called him. Grimmjow attempted to use his ultimate weapon but Kurosaki had been bolstered or something by Inoue's backing and was now winning. He finally dealt a finishing blow to Grimmjow.

"C'mon, let's go down there," Rukia said, moving to jump down. Inoue rearranged her shield so that they could stand on it and gently lowered them to the ground, where Kurosaki was waiting. The mask had shed off his face, and Kaien was stuck eyeing him confusedly, because Kurosaki Ichigo looked very much like him, meaning he was likely part of the Shiba clan, despite the different last name. Kaien had many questions.

"Rukia, why does he look so much like me?" he whispered.

Rukia shrugged. "I'm not sure. Weirded me out when I first met him, though, that's for sure."

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue called, hurrying forward… before she was intercepted by an Arrancar. Kaien recognized him as Nnoitra's Fracción, Tesra or something. Rukia immediately unsheathed Sode no Shirayuki and lunged forward, intent on defending her friend, and Kaien followed, still weak but unwilling to let his old subordinate enter battle alone. He defended Inoue while Rukia attacked with her shikai, which was a lot more powerful than he remembered it being. Meanwhile, Kurosaki was getting tossed around by Nnoitra, who was laughing.

"You weaklings don't stand a chance against me!" he chortled, axe kicking Kurosaki into the ground. Kaien winced. That looked like it had hurt.

"Ichigooooooo!" Nel shouted, hurrying forward. Kaien hissed and prepared to hold the little Arrancar, who looked to be no match for an Espada, back. For some reason, Nnoitra choked and recoiled in surprise when he saw her.

Kaien understood why in the next few moments, when a cloud of pink smoke obscured Nel's form before out popped a very much _adult_ Nel, who turned out to be the former third Espada. Kaien heard some flabbergasted noises from Rukia, who had been given a breather as Tesra had stopped attacking in astonishment. Kaien understood the sentiment; he was pretty surprised himself. He'd known that there had been Espada before the current group, most of them members of the Privaron Espada, but Aaroniero had never run into Nel, so he'd had no idea of Nel's true power. Kaien was suddenly glad he'd asked Inoue to heal Nel's mask. He wondered what had happened to it.

Nel (or Neliel, as her full name turned out to be) made short work of Nnoitra and killed him after both had activated their Resurrección. She seemed a bit downcast by the violence but perked up when she saw that Kurosaki was okay. Tesra went into a rage because of his downed master but Neliel finished him off pretty quickly, too.

Inoue quickly healed Kurosaki of his wounds before they all started to head back to the main compound, where they could sense the rest of the party was. However, they were delayed by the timely arrival of Kuchiki-taicho, Zaraki-taicho, and Kusajishi-fukutaicho.

"Where are all the enemies? I felt you fighting just a minute ago!" Zaraki-taicho demanded.

"Oh, uh, they're all dead," Kurosaki said nervously. He didn't like Zaraki-taicho much, apparently.

"Then who beat them? I came here to fight, so I'll fight them! They must be strong!" Zaraki-taicho complained.

Meanwhile, Kuchiki-taicho was staring at Kaien. On anyone else, his expression would have been labeled perplexed. "Is there an explanation for Shiba Kaien's sudden reappearance?" he asked smoothly, recovering quickly from the shock.

Rukia fidgeted. Her secret mother hen of a brother would definitely _not_ be pleased if he learned what kind of danger Rukia had exposed herself to to bring back Kaien. "He was fused with a Hollow, so I unfused them using the same technique Ichigo used on me," Rukia explained quietly.

Kuchiki-taicho looked displeased by this answer, correctly surmising how reckless Rukia's actions had been, which led to the quietest, most restrained sibling argument/dressing-down Kaien had ever seen.

It took Inoue a few minutes, but eventually she was able to remind everyone that they needed to pick up the rest of the group – Unohana-taicho and someone named Chad, who the former had found and healed, and Kurotsuchi-taicho and the two individuals he had saved, named Renji (Rukia's childhood friend?) and Uryu. They were about halfway to the main building when three Espada appeared in front of them: the first Espada, Starrk, the seventh Espada, Zommari, and the tenth Espada, Yammy.

Before any of them could so much as blink, Starrk appeared in front of Inoue and snatched her away, disappearing back into the main compound. Zommari and Yammy blocked her rescuers from following until the two Shinigami captains were able to pin them down.

"I'll handle this. Go," Kuchiki-taicho said, squaring off with Zommari.

"Heh, I hope you're strong!" Zaraki-taicho announced, leveling his blade at Yammy.

So Kurosaki, Neliel, Rukia, and Kaien all sped off in the direction Starrk had disappeared to. It seemed that the other members of the Inoue rescue team were in good hands, so they needed to focus their firepower on retrieving Inoue.

They reached the central tower mostly uninhibited, where Ulquiorra (who had apparently been trapped in a Caja Negación for a few hours) and a couple of Numeros greeted them with Inoue. Rukia and Kaien each took on a Numero while Neliel and Kurosaki engaged Ulquiorra.

The fight was mostly a blur for Kaien. He remembered releasing his zanpakuto and blasting the Arrancar away with water while Kurosaki, Neliel, Inoue, and Ulquiorra ascended to the top of the dome. Kaien wasn't quite sure what happened then, as he'd been finishing off his Numero at the time, but he felt Neliel's reiatsu weaken drastically as she was apparently defeated and Kurosaki's reiatsu fade away entirely before returning stronger than ever, more Hollow-like than during his fight with Grimmjow. Once Kaien had taken care of his Arrancar, he could only join Rukia in staring up at the dome and wondering what was going on up there.

Finally, it seemed as though Ulquiorra was defeated. Kaien would later learn that Kurosaki had Hollowfied completely at Inoue's prompting after he and Neliel had been defeated and nearly killed by the fourth Espada. Around the same time, Kuchiki-taicho had defeated Zommari, and Zaraki-taicho had defeated the tenth (or the zeroth) Espada (depending on if he'd released or not) after resorting to kendo.

Finally, everyone gathered together on the sands of Las Noches, all trapped by Aizen executing his trap to keep them in Hueco Mundo. Unohana-taicho began treating Zaraki-taicho's wounds while Inoue tended to Kuchiki-taicho, and Kurotsuchi-taicho eyed Kaien as if Christmas had come early.

"My, my, Shiba-fukutaicho," Kurotsuchi-taicho said gleefully, "It seems as though you've been returned to us! Won't you please let me run some experiments to uncover the root of this miraculous resurrection…?"

Kaien blanched and leveled his zanpakuto at Kurotsuchi-taicho. He was mildly gratified when Rukia, Neliel, and even Kurosaki did the same. "No experiments," Kurosaki said with finality. Kurotsuchi-taicho whined but accepted the verdict unhappily. Kaien wondered at what kind of influence Kurosaki wielded, to be able to influence such a hard-to-restrain captain.

They all went to Mayuri's lab, where Kurotsuchi-taicho was able to set up a makeshift Garganta amidst an ambush by the rest of Aizen's army. Kurosaki and Unohana-taicho leapt through the portal, while everyone else remained behind to prevent Aizen from calling on his hoard of Arrancar for backup.

Kaien grimaced and released Nejibana again as he fought alongside his former subordinate and her friends. It wasn't particularly _difficult_ work – none of these Arrancar or pet Hollows were particularly powerful – but it was grueling and exhausting, especially since Kaien was still suffering from physical control issues left behind by his ordeal with Aaroniero. Still, it left him some time to think in the monotony.

First, he thought of his wife, Shiba Miyako, who had been killed by Metastacia. He grieved for her as much as he was able in the middle of battle. While he'd been trapped as a part of Metastacia and later Aaroniero, he hadn't seen any of the other Shinigami both Hollows had devoured, which likely meant they'd been completely absorbed and integrated into the Hollows' powers. Only Kaien had had the strength of will and reiryoku needed to stay a distinct entity in the Hollows' mindscapes, for all that his power had been added to the Hollows'.

He frowned as a disturbing thought occurred to him. Aaroniero was dead, that much was for certain, and all of the individual Hollows he'd devoured had gone with him, leaving behind only residue. But had the Shinigami's power been cleansed from his system at the same time? Did he hold parts of Miyako's – and other's – power and soul within him? He certainly held traces of Hollow in his system; Rukia had been able to destroy Aaroniero's consciousness but not all of his power…

He heard a growl from within his mindscape that sounded wholly unlike Nejibana. Kaien had no time to wonder about it, though, as he faced down a group of particularly troublesome Hollows. Physical weakness or not, there was _no way_ he would allow himself to be beaten and eaten by a Hollow again.

When he was able to breathe again without almost being skewered, he glanced at Rukia and her friends. They seemed to be holding their own just fine. Kaien, while still angry and a bit frantic at the decision Rukia had made to try to save him, could admit with pride that his student and subordinate had improved in leaps and bounds since he'd last seen her. Plus, she'd been a bit of a loner – the Kuchiki clan's reputation had done her no favors there – but now it seemed she had a group of friends to rely upon. Even if some of them seemed to be Human.

Kaien wondered how the Shiba clan was doing, especially his siblings. They must have been devastated when he died. Kukaku was going to kick his ass when he returned. Before he'd died and been transported to Hueco Mundo, the Shiba clan had been thriving under his leadership. Who had become clan head after him? Isshin-ji or Kukaku? But he'd also heard disturbing rumors in Las Noches that Aizen had targeted the Shiba clan in order to weaken the Gotei 13.

If those rumors turned out to be truth, and the Shiba clan really was in trouble, heads were going to roll.

He could probably rope his old captain into helping him out. Ukitake had cared for him, and Kaien had respected him in turn, despite that he was often bed-ridden. Kaien hoped Ukitake had been able to find a helper or helpers that would run the day-to-day of the Thirteenth Division. He wondered how his captain would react to Kaien's reappearance.

Speaking of reappearances, he wondered how all the exiles from the Urahara incident had survived. He'd heard that they'd been turned into Hollows – but maybe they were just turned into Vizards, that type of being Rukia had told him about. He owed them an apology for not defending them when they were almost executed. Plus, he had a sneaking feeling he'd be seeing them in the future for some help, if the Hollow remnants in his system turned out to be a problem.

Damn Aizen for experimenting with Shinigami – his own captain, no less! – and damn him for creating Metastacia. All of the grief in Kaien's life could be connected to that one megalomaniac – his wife's death, his death, his exploitation by Metastacia and Aaroniero, attacking Rukia, leaving his family behind…

He would have to find out if Kurosaki Ichigo really was a Shiba or not. If he was, he would only be a handful of decades old, since he'd been born after Kaien had been unceremoniously removed from Soul Society. How on earth had he gotten so powerful so quickly, if that was the case? His bankai may have been tiny, but there was no mistaking the strength of his reiatsu. Rukia had mentioned something about Urahara…

Well, he'd investigate everything once he returned home. For now, though, he had a bunch of Hollows to slaughter.

* * *

I blame cywscross and her lovely Bleach fics _completely_. I thought my Bleach muse died a horrible death years ago. Turns out it was just sleeping. Ugh.

I'll be updating The Thief and The Phantom before returning to this again. I was just hit by inspiration, and I wanted to see what the reaction would be to an AU like this.

Hope you enjoyed!

-HM


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Is that it? No more Hollows?" Kaien panted. Hueco Mundo was eerily quiet, the screams of a multitude of Hollows silenced. The sands were strewn with dead bodies that were slowly dissolving into reishi.

Rukia looked similarly wiped out as she approached him. "I think that's all of them. All of the ones who weren't smart enough to run, at least."

"Can we get out of this hellhole?" Kaien was tired of looking at sand and at the palace Aizen had built, where he'd been imprisoned inside Aaroniero for years.

"Kurotsuchi-taicho should be able to reopen that Garganta," Rukia said.

"Then let's head over that way—" Kaien began before his legs gave out from under him and he toppled to the ground.

Rukia hurried towards him with a startled cry and knelt beside him. "Are you alright, Kaien-dono?"

Kaien groaned. "Yeah. I think I just… exhausted myself. My body has been weak ever since you saved me from Aaroniero."

"It will probably take some time for you to recover from that," Rukia said shrewdly as she helped back to his shaky feet. "Getting used to having a body again, right?"

"Something like that," Kaien agreed. Well, it was either that, or Kaien was adjusting to having an entirely new body built from Aaroniero's remains, as gross as that sounded.

Rukia took off in a slow, unsteady shunpo back towards Szayel's lab while halfway supporting Kaien. Along the way, they were joined by Kuchiki-taicho and a couple of Rukia's Human friends, the big one and the skinny Quincy. The rest of the group was already waiting for them back at the lab.

Kurotsuchi-taicho was eyeing Kaien greedily. "Some weakness in your body? Perhaps a reiatsu imbalance, yes… Nemu! Make note of this!" He started spouting something technical to his lieutenant, who dutifully began inputting notes in a handheld device that had somehow survived the invasion of Hueco Mundo intact. Kaien just sighed. It seemed he wouldn't be escaping scientific study, even if said study was noninvasive.

"Can't we go, or is there something holding us up?" the Quincy asked disdainfully, his dislike of Kurotsuchi-taicho quite clear.

"Yes, yes, I'll set up the Garganta in a moment," Kurotsuchi-taicho said dismissively, turning away to work on the Garganta.

In the meantime, Rukia set Kaien down while her friends curiously gathered around her. "Rukia, I'm glad to see you making friends! Who are they?" Kaien asked warmly, studying each of Rukia's friends (minus Kurosaki, who had long since departed). There was a large, dark-skinned Human, a skinny, pale Quincy, Inoue, and a spiked red-haired Shinigami who wore the badge of the Sixth's lieutenant.

"This is Chad, Ishida, you know Inoue, and Abarai Renji," Rukia said as she pointed to every one in turn. Kaien nodded cordially to each. "Everyone, this is Shiba Kaien-dono, who I thought had been killed by a Hollow but just wound up being a part of Aizen's experiments," she finished a bit bitterly.

There was a general chorus of hellos (and a little bit of wide-eyed awe and recognition from Renji) before Inoue knelt by Kaien, hands fluttering above him as she pulled out her two healing spirits, evidently seeing the trouble he was having with his body and wanting to help.

"Ah, don't do that," Kaien said quickly, before she could envelop him with the Souten Kisshun.

"Why not?" Inoue looked genuinely concerned.

"Your powers work by rejecting reality, correct?" Aizen had informed his Espada of why Inoue was so valuable, which meant that Kaien knew how her powers worked, too.

"I suppose that is one way to put it…" she said hesitantly.

"I'd rather not risk having Aaroniero, the ninth Espada, rejected back to life. I'm not saying that's what would happen, but it's a possibility." Kaien tried to be gentle, but she still recoiled from him at the thought of what her powers might be able to do.

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry," Inoue said shakily, downcast. "I wasn't thinking."

"Hey, it's okay. It just means I'll have to recover the old-fashioned way," Kaien said reassuringly.

"The Garganta is ready!" Kurotsuchi-taicho called, interrupting the conversation. Inoue still looked a little downcast, but now didn't seem the time for some tough Shiba love.

Rukia helped him up, and everyone crowded around the gaping black hole in the sky, save for Neliel and two Hollows that were apparently allies. This did not go unnoticed.

"Will you be coming with us, Nel? And your friends too?" Inoue asked, nodding to the two Hollows that seemed to function as Neliel's Fracción.

"We'll follow you wherever you decide to go, Neliel-sama!" one of them declared.

Neliel considered the question carefully. "I think we'll stay here for the time being. We wouldn't want a Shinigami mistaking us for an enemy!"

"By law, we are supposed to execute any Hollows we come across," Kuchiki-taicho pointed out, though he made no move to follow that rule.

"So it would be best if we stayed in Hueco Mundo! But just because we're hanging around here doesn't mean we can't come to visit once things die down! Oh, but wait, before you leave… be right back!" Neliel sonidoed off, covering great distances in the blink of an eye. She wasn't nearly as wiped out as some of the other members of the group were from fighting. She returned bearing a bloody and unconscious Grimmjow.

"Can you heal him?" Neliel asked, gently laying Grimmjow's form on the sand in front of Inoue.

"Yes, I should be able to," Inoue said, her spirits already hovering at each end of Grimmjow's body and creating the familiar yellow dome.

"Isn't he an enemy?" Renji asked, eyeing Grimmjow warily.

"Not necessarily. I think he was just like Kenpachi-san in wanting a good fight. He did attack Ulquiorra-san for interfering," Inoue said thoughtfully as she worked.

"He would be a powerful ally, if he so chose to help us," Ishida murmured.

"Exactly! I think he would be a good friend!" Neliel said happily. Inoue's power faded as Grimmjow was healed, though he remained unconscious.

"Are we all done here? Nothing else to do?" Renji checked as Neliel picked Grimmjow up again.

"Seems so," said Chad.

"Shall we, then?" Rukia said, gesturing toward the Garganta. One by one, each Shinigami and Human leapt through the portal, some waving goodbye to Neliel and her Fracción.

"Bye bye!" Neliel called cheerfully. "See you all again someday!"

* * *

The inside of the Garganta was black as pitch, save for the stable, glowing, white road of reishi Kuchiki-taicho was constructing at the front of the group. Kaien had seen the inside of these only a few times before – Metastacia and later Aaroniero had seldom gone world-hopping – but he was still vaguely aware of how they worked. It would take some time to make it back to the World of the Living. Or, as Kuchiki-taicho had informed them, to the fake Karakura Town that had been constructed specifically to stall Aizen.

This gave Kaien some time to try to manage his shaky body. He was still leaning on Rukia for support, his wobbly legs unable to fully handle his weight. It wasn't as bad as it had been in Hueco Mundo – it seemed he was recovering from exerting himself so much against the horde of Hollows – but he would probably need rest before he was back at one hundred percent. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of a war and had no time to recuperate, so he would just have to make do. At the very least, he wanted to be able to stand on his own two feet by the time they made it to the World of the Living, even if he wouldn't be participating in any more combat.

* * *

As it turned out, Kaien needn't have worried about engaging in the fighting, because there was no fighting in the fake Karakura Town anymore. All of the Espada and their Fracción had been killed or run off, though it seemed almost every Shinigami officer had been downed in the process. Kaien also picked up the reiatsu signatures of the exiles from a century ago – the Vizards, as he'd been informed they were called – so they'd apparently come to help, too.

But he was most interested in the very familiar signature emanating near Kyoraku-taicho's.

He bade goodbye to Rukia, who wanted to go with her friends to the real Karakura Town in Soul Society to see Kurosaki, and began making his way toward his old captain. Kurotsuchi-taicho was too busy complaining about the state that his construct was in to notice, Zaraki-taicho had wandered off, and Kuchiki-taicho had disappeared, likely to help with cleanup. The lower-class Shinigami that had also traveled to Hueco Mundo stayed with their captains.

Without shunpo, it was slow going, and it seemed Unohana-taicho made it to Ukitake-taicho and Kyoraku-taicho before he did. Ukitake-taicho was on his feet and headed Kaien's way before Kaien could get there, thanks to Unohana-taicho, so he leaned against a crumbling wall.

He didn't have to wait long. A disheveled and injured Ukitake Juushiro appeared in front of him, staring at him as though he were a hallucination. Kaien supposed a little incredulity was to be expected; he had died, after all.

"Hi, taicho," Kaien said tiredly. "Miss me?"

"Kaien… What in the world…?" Ukitake-taicho said, eyes roving over Kaien's form, from the "9" tattoo on his cheek to his torn and dirtied white uniform. "I thought I was just imagining things when I felt your reiatsu signature, but… what on earth happened? How are you alive?"

Kaien began summarizing the entire ordeal to his captain, start to finish. "Very long story short, it turns out Metastacia was one of Aizen's experiments, and it regenerated my body in Hueco Mundo. It was still in control at the time. Then it was eaten by an Arrancar named Aaroniero, and my power was integrated into his. He had full use of Nejibana and could access all of my memories. Rukia, that reckless idiot, destroyed Aaroniero and saved me by transferring her powers to me."

Ukitake-taicho listened quietly and intently, lips pressed together in displeasure at hearing the fate that had befallen Kaien. He was an astute man and was no doubt picking up on the misery Kaien had had to endure by being under a Hollow's thumb. Instead of grilling him for details, though, Ukitake-taicho just pulled him into a bear hug. "Welcome back," he said softly.

"Good to be back," Kaien said, smiling. "And, taicho? Thank you for allowing me to battle Metastacia on my own. I realize the outcome wasn't ideal, but…"

"You're welcome. It was a fight for your pride and honor, and I had no right to interfere with that."

"Yeah," Kaien said. "Anyway, what's happened with Aizen? Is he dead?"

"Not that I know of," Ukitake-taicho sighed. "He's gone to the real Karakura Town. Kurosaki-san followed him, but we haven't heard any news yet."

"So we're just waiting," Kaien surmised. "Great. Waiting to hear news of the end of the world is so much fun."

Ukitake-taicho snorted in amusement before falling into a coughing fit. Kaien automatically moved to put a comforting hand on his back, a habit ingrained from decades of practice and not something that would be easily erased, even by years of imprisonment and abuse.

"So how's the division been doing? Have you found a replacement for me yet?" Kaien asked teasingly once his captain had recovered.

"I haven't found a lieutenant, actually," Ukitake-taicho said. Seeing Kaien's frown, he added, "I have two Third Seats, Kiyone and Sentaro, that have taken over most of the tasks you used to handle. I have plenty of help; don't worry."

"Good. They're great Shinigami," Kaien said, casting his thoughts to the enthusiastic Shinigami who'd been Seventh Seat and Ninth Seat last he'd checked. They'd held him in high esteem – idolized him, almost – but they were competent, and between the two of them, there shouldn't be any problems. But before Kaien could ask about what was happening in the division in general – who'd been promoted or demoted, who'd died, how well the division was functioning – a voice interrupted him.

"Attention, all Shinigami… and to the masked ones who aided us. Kurosaki Ichigo has defeated Aizen Sousuke, whose power has been sealed. Repeat, Kurosaki Ichigo has defeated Aizen Sousuke, whose power has been sealed. Please be aware that the constructed town and the real one will switch places in three minutes. Report to the center of the town if you are able. You will be picked up, if otherwise."

"That sounds like Sasakibe-fukutaicho," Kaien noted as the kido-enhanced voice faded. "Shall we, taicho?"

* * *

When they made it to the center of the town, sometime after the real and fake Karakura Towns had switched places, Kaien took note of all the new and familiar faces among the Shinigami who had battled, though it seemed the exiles from a century ago had run off already. One face was of particular note, though he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Isshin-ji!" he called, waving and attracting the attention of a number of the Shinigami, who stared in shock. Soi Fon-taicho's remaining hand crept to her zanpakuto, but Ukitake-taicho moved to intercept her and smooth things over by explaining his presence. Thankfully, Isshin also looked his way and gaped in astonishment.

"Kaien!" he said in wonder. "How…? Wait a second, what's with that uniform and tattoo?"

"This body used to belong to the ninth Espada. It's complicated. I'm sure you'll hear the whole story soon enough. But, surprise, I've come back to life!" Kaien paused, taking note of the shred of captain's haori tied to Isshin's shoulder. "What about you? I see you made captain while I was gone! I'm surprised Yamamoto lets you wear the haori like that."

"Yeah." Isshin gave a tight, pained grin. Whoops, it seemed as though this was a touchy subject. Something else to talk about… wait, he'd heard something in Las Noches from Aizen about Kurosaki Ichigo being Shiba Isshin's son, hadn't he?

"So, Kurosaki Ichigo is yours?" Kaien questioned.

A proud but sad look flitted across Isshin's face before it was gone. "Yeah, Ichigo's my kid."

"I guess I'll see him back in Soul Society, then," Kaien said pensively. Provided that Central 46 didn't do anything stupid regarding his nephew's Hollow powers. Though Central 46 would face a huge backlash if they tried to do anything untoward to the Shinigami's savior.

Isshin shifted in embarrassment, which Kaien immediately noticed. "Isshin-ji, what have you done?" he asked suspiciously. Isshin _always_ seemed to be the center of some commotion or another.

"I may have married a Human woman. And my kids are Human," Isshin said sheepishly.

Kaien gaped. How the hell was that even _possible_? And how had Isshin gotten away with it? "Kids? Plural? Wait a second. You live in the Human world now?" he asked dazedly.

"…Quite possibly," Isshin replied.

Kaien facepalmed. "Of course you'd finally find a woman only for her to end up being Human. What am I going to do with you?" Kaien said dramatically. "Well, I'll just have to come down and visit sometime. You're still family."

Isshin's expression abruptly turned grave. "About that…"

"Shiba Kaien." Whatever Isshin was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of the captain-commander, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who was stern as always but was also curiously missing an arm. "It seems you've been miraculously returned to us." Ah, yes, the grilling. To make sure Kaien wouldn't attempt to attack them or otherwise help Aizen.

Kaien considered himself lucky to escape that encounter with merely an order to report to Unohana Retsu within the next month to determine if Aaroniero Arruruerie was truly gone. And Kaien was going to comply. The captain-commander was _scary_.

* * *

Kaien probably should have expected the incredulous stares and unsubtle whispering as he walked past scores of Shinigami on his way from the Senkaimon to the clan compound. He was still well-known, apparently, despite having been dead for decades. He was allowed to wander off by himself, though Ukitake-taicho did ask him to come to the Thirteenth's barracks to say hi to Kiyone and Sentaro, who would be over the moon to find out he'd been essentially resurrected.

Right now, though, he had a clan to reunite with, because for Shibas, family came first.

…Except that the clan compound wasn't where it was supposed to be, in the noble province of Seireitei. In fact, the compound was completely gone, nothing but a bare patch of land to show that there had once been a gigantic house there. Kaien turned in a circle, wondering what on earth had happened while he'd been dead.

"So the rumors are true." Oh, crap, that was Kukaku's I'm-pissed-beyond-pissed voice and Kaien was _so dead_. "Shiba Kaien has returned from the grave."

"Hi, sis," Kaien squeaked as he turned, seeing his sister for the first time in years. Normally, he'd give her a giant hug as a greeting, but she seemed too irate for that right now. Almost on the verge of tears, in fact. Kaien knew his sister had a temper, but he'd never seen her so worked up before.

"You know, when the news came from Seireitei that you'd been recovered alive, I couldn't believe it. I thought people were playing a cruel prank," Kukaku said shakily, looking as though she was holding onto her self-control with her fingertips. "Ganju and our retainers were absolutely shattered when they heard people saying such things. But… here you are. You _jerk!_ How dare you go and die on all of us!" Kukaku roared, racing forward to tackle Kaien to the ground. Kaien made no move to stop her, especially when he felt droplets of water fall to his face as he was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

"Easy, little sis," he murmured, embracing her back as she cried. "It's okay. I'm back."

"If you're ever so stupid as to die alone again when you have backup, I'll bring you back myself just to kill you again!" she snarled into his shirt, her grip tightening on the torn white clothes that Kaien really wanted to change out of and burn. Kaien knew Kukaku understood the type of fight that was for pride… but he'd really hurt her, the whole family too, by his decision. Maybe if he were in a similar situation again, he'd tell his pride to hang, because the consequences if he failed were too great, and he probably wouldn't be the only one gunning for revenge against something that had killed someone important, anyway.

Sometime after Kukaku had stopped quivering from the force of her emotions, Kukaku rolled off of him to lie in the dirt beside him, an arm thrown over her eyes. "…Ganju and the others are going to freak out when I get you home," she mumbled.

"Speaking of, uh, where's the compound?" Kaien asked, looking over at her.

"Oh. You don't know, then. The clan's been scattered, banished to Rukongai. There are now only four Great Nobles Houses in Seireitei," Kukaku said bitterly.

"…WHAT?!"

* * *

Shorter than the last chapter, but hopefully we'll be back to full size next chapter. This is a pretty transitional, filler chapter, and it was kind of tough to write. Because there were also lots of feels, and I'm bad at those.

Anyway. Next time: Ganju and the rest of the Shiba family, lots of paperwork, and what is that sound Kaien hears in his mindscape?

Thanks for reading!

-HM


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